The CDC reports today that since the last update on September 23, 2021, 140 more people were added to this outbreak. As of September 29, 2021, 419 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg have been reported from 35 states. Illnesses started on dates ranging from June 19, 2021, to September 14, 2021.
Alabama 1, Arkansas 8, California 6, Connecticut 4, Florida 5, Georgia 2, Illinois 28, Indiana 1, Iowa 1, Kansas 9, Kentucky 9, Louisiana 4, Maryland 22, Massachusetts 10, Michigan 6, Minnesota 20, Mississippi 2, Missouri 5, Nebraska 6, New Jersey 5, New Mexico 8, New York 3, North Carolina 7, North Dakota 2, Ohio 5, Oklahoma 63, Oregon 1, Pennsylvania 4, South Carolina 2, South Dakota 7, Tennessee 2, Texas 111, Utah 2, Virginia 38 and Wisconsin 10.
Sick people range in age from less than 1 year to 91 years, with a median age of 37, and 56% are female. Of 214 people with information available, 66 (31%) have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported.
The true number of sick people in an outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella. In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.
State and local officials have collected food items from some of the restaurants where sick people ate. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg was found in a sample taken from a takeout condiment cup containing cilantro and lime. The sick person reported that the condiment container also contained onions, but none were left in the cup when it was tested.
The CDC reports that because multiple food items were present in the container and in the sample that was tested, it is not possible to know which food item was contaminated. We are using this information in conjunction with other available information to help narrow the list of possible foods linked to illness.
However, as I said a few days ago, The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) shows that of the 275 Salmonella Oranienburg uploaded, 274 Whole Genome Sequence (WGS) “matches” are human and one is cilantro. See below.
Looking at NCBI today shows:
Group PDG000000002.2305 Cluster PDS000094913.20
356 Isolates (355 clinical, 1 “mixed produce”)
NOTE: changed from “cilantro” to “mixed produce” because the cilantro was in an open cup
Distance between selected isolates: minimum = 0 SNPs, maximum = 9 SNPs, average = 1 SNPs
Target creation date range: 2021-08-20 to 2021-09-24
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